Question:
I am writing to enquire about a few coins I have recently found, as I know nothing about coin collecting it would be handy to have some advice. 50 cent coin only stamped on one side. The coat of arms side is as normal, turn it over and its blank, but by the marking on the coin it is clear it has not been scratched or defaced.2 x 1999 $2 coins with what google has told me is a "reverse rim cud". One just above the ETH II and the other just above the USTRAL.
2 x 2000 $2 coins with what appears to be an off centre stamping making it appear to have a double ring on one side and very little edge on the other
Variety of coins with commemorative prints including; $1, 50c and 20c World War II We Remember
Millenium 50c coin (without incused flag)
1981 Charles and Diana's Wedding 50c
1998 Discovery of Bass Straight 50c
1970 Captain Cook 50c
2005 Commonwealth Games 50c
2002 Windmill 50c
2001 Centenary of Federation 50c (Australia, ACT, Norfolk Island coins)
2001 International Year of Volunteers $1 x 2
2003 Australia's Volunteers $1
2001 Centenary of Federation $1
2008 Centenary of Scouting $1
Basically what I would like to know is, are any of these worthwhile selling for keen collectors collections, are any rare, and what is the best avenue for selling any that are of some worth? A couple of them have a bit of tarnish and discolouration, is there anything in particular that is used for cleaning coins or can I just use my jewellery cleaner?
Thankyou so much for your assistance
Answer:
Thanks for your questions and thanks for reading our blog. The 50c coin stamped on one side only sparks interest for me. You'll have to weigh it exactly (maybe visit a jeweller), it should weigh 15.55grams. If it's been machined down on the blank side or been interfered with then it will weigh less and not be worth more than 50 cents. It may just be that the blank side is a weak strike, this will possibly make it worth a little more. If has genuinely not been struck then it's called a uniface coin and if proved to be genuine then it may be worth hundreds of dollars. This is worth investigating more, maybe take it to a coin shop or local dealer and get their opinion. If it is genuine and you wish to sell it then your local coin dealer may offer to buy it or you could consign it to auction. Let me know if you want further info on this after you weigh it if it looks to be genuine, I can help you further. The rim cuds might make a few dollars more than face value on eBay, they are genuine extra blobs of metal when the coin has been struck but are quite common. The off-centre 2 dollar doesn't sound to be anything too special. There is often a little movement when the coin is struck allowing for some slight off centre. When you can accurately say that a coin has been struck off centre with more than about 2mm then it becomes more valuable. The $2 is the rarer of all the denominations to have larger off centre strikes but are quite commonly found with slight double rimming. The other comemmoratives you list aren't really worth any more than their face value although maybe interesting to keep if in good condition. Please don't clean your coins, this is best left to the professionals only in exceptional circumstances. Just rubbing a coin with a cloth can leave tiny hairlines that can be seen under magnification that could render the coin worthless. If they are dirty you might use a small amount of dish washing liquid and hot water to get the dirt off and lay them on paper towel to air dry without any rubbing as I mentioned above.. I hope I've helped you with your questions, Happy collecting, The Australian-threepence.com Team
Follow Up:
It turned out that the 50 cent had concentric rings on the blank side, so it was almost certainly put onto a lathe or milling machine and skimmed off.
Posted by mnemtsas at May 4, 2009 6:40 PM
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